BOULDER, CO - MARCH 16, 2014: CU Buffs Tre'Shaun Fletcher, right, George King, second from left, Ben Mills and other members of the CU Buffs men's basketball team react to being chosen to play Pittsburgh in the NCAA tournament while watching the results live in Boulder, Co on March 16, 2014. The entire team met at Coach Tad Boyle's house to see where they landed in the second round of the tournament. The team earned the number 8 seed in the South Region of the 2014 NCAA Tournament. They will play Pittsburgh, the number 9 seed, in a second round game Thursday, March 20 at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. (Photo By Helen H. Richardson/ The Denver Post)

BOULDER — When “Colorado” flashed on the television screen in Tad Boyle’s living room in the opening minutes of the “Selection Sunday” show, Spencer Dinwiddie joined in the cheering. Seated on one end of the wraparound sectional with his teammates, he was as enthusiastic as if he knew he would be on the floor in Orlando, Fla., at the opening tip against Pittsburgh on Thursday.

He won’t be.

In fact, it’s possible — even probable — that the junior point guard from Woodland Hills, Calif., has played his final game for CU, and that his Buffaloes career ended when he suffered a torn ACL at Washington on Jan. 12.

But on Sunday, he still was a Buff.

“I think it’s great,” he said of the draw. “To be an eighth seed is a great accomplishment in my mind. I don’t know much about Pitt, so I can’t really give you an evaluation or comment on them, but we’re going to go there and try to win games.”

I noticed the “we.” No, that’s not a shock. It’s confirmation.

“Unless Coach says different, I plan on traveling with the team,” Dinwiddie said. “I went on the trip to the (Pac-12) tournament, and I’d like to be on this one. I went through all the early-season battles, the hard months, the pain trains, the things of that nature. Of course I feel a part of this.”

The Buffs were 14-2 overall and 3-0 in the Pac-12, and Dinwiddie brought a 15.2-point average into the game at Seattle. He crumpled to the floor during the first half, and his season ended. Count me among the many who assumed that his loss meant an NCAA berth was an impossible dream. The Buffs’ decent showing down the stretch of the Pac-12 schedule and in the league tournament is testament to his teammates’ resilience and to Boyle’s coaching.

Yet Dinwiddie, 20, ponders what might have been.

“We were on pace to deliver the best season in Colorado history from a wins perspective,” Dinwiddie said. “We were trying to make noise in both tournaments. We were trying to win the regular-season title, and we were looking to finish with a small amount of losses in conference play and challenge Arizona for the conference title. So of course you’re going to feel a little bit of unfinished business.”

After the Buffs are done in the tournament, Dinwiddie will close in on making his decision: whether to return as a senior, hoping a full, healthy season will increase his NBA draft stock, or whether his value as a 6-foot-6 point guard means the time to leave is now. ACL surgery no longer scares off teams.

“I think it’s all about doing what’s best for the next 15 years of my career, rather than just next year,” Dinwiddie said. “It really all depends. It really does leave a little bit of that unfinished business taste in your mouth, but at the same time, if I get a good evaluation, I’m still looking to leave.

“I’m going to be a Colorado Buffalo alumni eventually, whether it’s next year or a year after that. My heart is always going to be first and foremost in Los Angeles, where I grew up, and second here in Boulder. It’s always going to be a part of me.”

In the meantime, he’s going to be a spectator, but also a member of the team in Orlando.

“Every day you see Spencer is a good day,” Boyle said. “He’s got a smile on his face. He’s handled the injury mentally as well as you can. He’s worked really hard in his rehab to get to the point he is today. You see him on the street and he looks like he could play. He wants to play, but obviously his knee’s not ready for that. But Spencer’s really helped the young guys on this team. He’s talked to Askia (Booker) a lot about his insights and what he needs to do, and he’s kind of been like that assistant coach as a player. Spencer’s a big part of what we are, who we are, and he’s as happy as anybody.”

A graduate of Wheat Ridge High School and the University of Colorado, Terry Frei has been named a state's sportswriter of the year seven times -- four times in Colorado and three times in Oregon. He's the author of seven books, including the novel "Olympic Affair" about Colorado's Glenn Morris, the 1936 Olympic decathlon champion; and "Third Down and a War to Go," about the 1942 football national champion Wisconsin Badgers and the players' subsequent World War II heroism.

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